Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-05-20
OUR FELINE FRIENDS.
Odd Freaks, Capers, and Derosiom Of the
Household Pet.
Pittsburgh Dispatch.l


week subsequent to the conflict, cats
were found clinging to the knapsacks
Of their masters, whom they refused to
leave after their death.
A curious story is related by a cor
respondent of the London Field of a
tabby cat which produced and success
fully reared family of five Kittens in
disused magpie's nest at the top Of an
elm tree.
A cat carried live snake into a
dwelling-house of w. H. Stephenson,
at Hartwell, Ca, recently, and when it
was discovered was playing with it as if
it were rat. The snake was killed
and the cats fun destroyed.
Some felines may be destitute OF
gratitude; all ore not. A cat, whose
leg had been mangled by trap, was
tenderly nursed by its mistress until the
wound was healed. Thenceforward for
many months each mouse that became
its prey was taken to its mistress, the
cat refusing to eat it until she had &C
cepted the gift and then restored it to
it's donor.
Uron cape extending from the Isle
Of Cyprus there formerly stood mon
astery whose monks were solemnly
bound to keep cats to destroy the snakes
infesting the island. When q certain
bell rang the cats came to their meals,
and then set forth again in pursuit of
the reptiles. The monastery and cats
were destroyed by the Turks, who. con-
quered the island toward the close of
the sixteenth century, but for many
years after the cape was called "Cat
Cape"
A noted singer of Paris once had u
cat possessed of such an ability to de-
tect musical imperfection that she
never sang piece in public until she
had sung it to puss, confident hat she
would please an audience if her rendi-
tion was satisfactory to the cat.
Among the Copts (says writer in
the Cosmopolitan, the descendants of
the inhabitants of ancient Egypt, the
notion is entertained to this day that
twins (until 10 or - years Of age), if
they go to bed hungry, roam about in
the guise of cats, their bodies lying at
home apparently dead.
According to Peter Hue, the Chinese
used the cat as clock. "They pointed
out to u.s." says the missionary, "that
the pupil of its eye contracted gradu-
ally as noon drew near; that OF noon it
was like hair, or an extremely fine
line, traced perpendicularly on the
eye. After midday the pupil again be-
gan to dilate. When he had attentively
examined the cats in the place, he con.
Guided it was past noon. The eyes OF
all presented on exactly similar appear.
ance."
A cat got upon the rim of high fly
wheel which runs in pit at an electric
light station in Brooklyn. The wheel
was soon making twenty revolutions a
minute. 1t was impossible to rescue
the cat from its perilous position with
out stopping the engine and putting
out all lights dependent upon the dyna-
mos in the station, SO that the unfortu-
nate animal had to ride until the engine
was stopped at the usual hour for put
ting out the lights. The cat then
dropped exhausted from the wheel, but
soon revived, and was none the worse
for its strange experience. It is esti-
mated that in the seven hours which
the animal spent on the wheel near the
rim it Travelled more than three hundred
miles.
DEFENSlHE 44R.MOR AZ TIE TIME OF
THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
The principal garment worn in battle
at this time by both Normans and Eng
lishmen who were rich or powerful (for
the ordinary people fought in their
everyday clothes) was so shaped as to
cover the arms to the elbow and the
legs to the knee. 1t was made of
leather or strong cloth, on which were
sewed small plates or rings of metal.
1t was probably also wadded, as an
additional protection. Sometimes, in
stead of the plates or rings, trellis-
work of leather was made and strength
ened with studs. The garment had a
square opening in the breast, to enable
the wearer to struggle into it, first his
legs, then one arm, then the other.
When he was in, a flap was buckled or
buttoned across the opening. A hood,
of the same material as this body gar
ment, covered the head and shoulders.
On top of the hood was placed helmet
Of iron and bronze, conical, or nearly
so in shape, and fitting round the head
like hat. A piece OF iron came down
from the rim in front, protecting the
nose, and partially masking the face.
There was sometimes similar piece to
cover the back of the head and the name
of the neck. These helmets must have
been both heavy and uncomfortable, as
the whole weight rested on the head,
and perfect fit must have been diff